There’s nothing more satisfying than sipping on a perfectly creamy, flavourful matcha latte at a cute little café.
While I love matcha now, it was by no means love at first sight.
Back in 2015, when matcha was all the rage, I vividly remember sitting in the backseat of my mom’s car at the Starbucks drive through begging for her to order me an iced matcha latte. Though she knew I wouldn’t enjoy it and it would end up getting thrown out, she bought me one anyways.
I eagerly took my first sip, expecting to be swept away by the same enthusiasm that seemed to be sweeping social media. Instead, as the bitter, earthy flavour washed over my taste buds, I recoiled in disgust.
Matcha, it seemed, was not for me.
After wasting over $6 on a single underwhelming and slightly unpleasant drink, 12-year-old me vowed to never drink another matcha latte again. Even when matcha was all over social media again and everyone around me was joining in on the obsession, I refused to be influenced.
My current obsession with matcha started as an accident. To make a long story short, Starbucks messed up my order—I ordered an iced green tea with lemonade, and they gave me a matcha latte instead—totally understandable how the barista made that mistake. Me being the person I am, I thanked the barista, grabbed my drink, and left.
While Starbucks matcha is objectively bad, I was hooked.
Since then, I’ve made it my personal mission to find the best matcha in Kingston. I’d like to preface, I don’t drink matcha for its health benefits—which range from being high in antioxidants, boosting brain function, and enhancing weight loss. I drink it solely for the taste, and because I don’t like to try new things.
The perfect matcha latte can be either iced or hot, but it must include oat milk—my non-dairy milk of choice. My biggest pet peeve is when the matcha powder sinks to the bottom or when the latte isn’t properly mixed, and I always find myself swirling my drink around until it spills all over me or my laptop.
Other than that, I’m not too picky.
After three years in Kingston, I’ve officially found my go-to matcha latte. While it’s not very original, Crave is by far number one on my list. I like my matcha on the sweeter and creamier side and Crave checks both of those boxes. While I usually opt for a hot matcha latte at Crave, their iced matcha latte is just as good—though it doesn’t come in a large cup.
SENS Café on Ontario St. and Balzac’s both tie for second place on my list. My friend swears by Balzac’s matcha, but I find it has a bit of a strange aftertaste. I think if it was slightly sweeter, I’d have more of an affinity for it.
While I only ever get iced matcha lattes at SENS Café, I have no doubt their hot matcha latte is just as good. For me, the colour is what stands out the most—it’s the most perfect shade of green and reminds me so much of summer. My one qualm is it lacks the sweetness I crave and look for in a matcha latte.
Now, I’m not saying everyone should switch out their daily coffee for matcha, but if you say it tastes like grass, it’s time to grow up.
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